Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Beck Bode LLC

Beck Bode LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,178 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.1% of Beck Bode LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after buying an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,274,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:COST traded down $3.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $722.90. 1,734,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,451. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $730.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $669.72. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $320.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.28, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.